Marijus Mikutavičius (born 19 April 1971), known better as Marijonas Mikutavičius, is a

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

n singer, musician and songwriter, a television journalist, a comedian and a talk show host from

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. He is best known for his sports anthem '' Trys Milijonai'' as well as an official Eurobasket 2011 song '' Celebrate Basketball'' and for representing his country at Eurovision Song Contest 2006 as part of LT United.

Early life and education

Mikutavičius was born in Lazdijai. At the age of nine, he moved with his family to

. He later entered the Faculty of Communication of the

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher education institutions in Central and Ea ...

from which he graduated in 1993 as a master in journalism.

Career

While studying at a university, Mikutavičius worked for periodicals and as a ''Vakaro žinios'' (''Evening News'') reporter for Lithuanian television. He also played in a rock band ''Bovy'', which toured around Europe and sang in

Scandinavian countries Scandinavia is a subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also refer to the Scan ...

, Germany, and Eastern Europe, and gained recognition as the best vocalist at the Liepājas dzintars (''

Liepāja Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

'') music festival in 1995. He has been working as a

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and a participant in a variety of programs, usually youth oriented, on Lithuanian National Radio and Television and on major commercial TV channels LNK and Lithuanian TV3. He has hosted ''Vakaras su Marijonu'' (''An Evening with Marijonas''), a talk show on LNK. He also works as a ''

Lietuvos rytas ''Lietuvos rytas'' (lit. 'Morning of Lithuania') is a Lithuanian daily newspaper. History and profile "Lietuvos rytas" was established in 1990 on a basis of newspaper "Komjaunimo tiesa". The paper is printed in Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is ...

'' daily correspondent. Mikutavičius is the author of a number of hit songs which stand at the top of the music charts in Lithuania. As the author of the popular song Trys Milijonai, he became a ''Bravo 2000 '' music award winner (''Bravo'' is a Lithuanian analogue of BRIT Awards voted by the music industry people); he is also a recipient of the '' Radiocentras'' music award (voted by the listeners). In 2004, the Lithuanian record label Intervid released his album ''Pasveikinkit vieni kitus'' (''Greet Each Other''), which included two versions of ''Trys Milijonai''. This album reached the

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

award for sales in Lithuania (sold 20,000 copies early in 2004 and more than 30,000 copies by 2005). In February and March 2005, saw a controversy in the media, which arose from the rumors that Mikutavičius apparently, unilaterally sold the rights of the song for five years to "Intervid".

Albums

* "Lengvas būdas mesti klausytis" ("Easy Way to Stop Listening") (2014) * "Baigėme mokyklą" ("We Graduated School") (2008) * "Pasveikinkit vieni kitus" ("Greet Each Other") (2004)

Honours

On April 29 2014, Mikutavičius was awarded the Lithuanian Order of Services for Lithuanians by the former President of Lithuania.

Singles

* "Velnias, man patinka Kalėdos" ("Damn, I Like Christmas") * "Pakeliui Namo" ("On Our Way Home") * "Aš miręs" ("I'm Dead") * " Trys Milijonai" ("Three Million"), a hit song; the official song for Lithuania at the Sydney Olympic Games and a popular unofficial Lithuanian sports anthem * "Nebetyli Sirgaliai" (Celebrate Basketball), the official basketball anthem for the 2011 Basketball Euro Championships (hosted in Lithuania)

References

External links

Marijonas Mikutavičius biography

Marijonas "Pasveikinkit vieni kitus" introduction
The Baltic Times, early 2004 *
Intervid: Marijonas "Pasveikinkit vieni kitus" album

Marijonas Mikutavicius's Unofficial Fan Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mikutavicius, Marijonas 1971 births Living people 21st-century Lithuanian male singers Journalists from Vilnius Lithuanian comedians Lithuanian pop singers Lithuanian television presenters Musicians from Vilnius People from Lazdijai Vilnius University alumni